3/25/22 - President Biden Heads To Poland

President Biden continues his visit to Europe and today will focus on the humanitarian needs of refugees from Ukraine.

(USATODAY) - President Joe Biden is traveling to Poland on Friday for a briefing on the humanitarian crisis sparked by the month-old war in Ukraine and to possibly meet with Ukrainian refugees displaced by the conflict.

More than 2 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since the start of Russia’s invasion of their country. In Brussels on Thursday, Biden pledged $1 billion in U.S. humanitarian assistance to refugees fleeing the invasion and hinted he may meet with some of them personally.

“I hope I get to see a lot of people,” he said after a trio of summits with key U.S. allies.

Before departing Brussels, Biden held a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after which the United States and European Union announced a new task force aiming to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.

Biden said the task force will focus on two initiatives: helping Europe reduce its dependency on Russian gas as quickly as possible and reducing Europe's demand for gas overall.

Later in Rzeszów, Poland, Biden will receive a briefing on the humanitarian response to the suffering of civilians inside Ukraine and the response to the flow of refugees fleeing the country. Afterward, he will meet with U.S. service members in the 82nd Airborne Division who have been deployed to Poland in recent weeks to help bolster NATO’s eastern flank.

Biden will close the day by heading to Warsaw, where on Saturday he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver remarks on the united efforts to support the people of Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for the war.

Meanwhile, the outskirts of Kharkiv faced near-constant shelling throughout the morning Friday, and in Kyiv, a large fireball explosion was seen before Russia’s military claimed it destroyed a Ukrainian fuel base. In Chernihiv, city official Olexander Lomako warned of a "humanitarian catastrophe" after a Russian strike destroyed a bridge and its forces had begun targeting food supplies.